All roads surrounding Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house in the center of Phnom Penh were temporarily closed off Sunday, with one official saying the shutdown was partly a response to an outbreak of violence at a polling station.
From about 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon until about 9.30 p.m., Norodom Boulevard to the immediate north and south of Independence Monument, Sihanouk Boulevard to the west and Suramarit Boulevard to the east were blocked by metal barriers and guarded by police and military police, while roads leading to the Ministry of Interior compound were also barricaded.
A member of Mr. Hun Sen’s personal bodyguard unit standing guard at one of the barricades said he believed the violence seen in Meanchey district—where riots broke out and two military police vehicles were overturned and set ablaze in response to people’s names being left off voter lists—had led to the road closures.
“It’s because we saw those military police cars were attacked,” the bodyguard said, without giving his name.
Municipal Traffic Police chief Heng Chantheary said he did not know the reason for the decision and said the order to seal off the streets was given by municipal police chief Chuon Sovann, who declined to comment.
Brigadier General Kheng Tito, spokesman for the National Military Police, said that the move to secure the area around Mr. Hun Sen’s home was a precautionary measure to protect the prime minister and was standard procedure in the circumstances.
“We were concerned that protesters might rally around the residence of the prime minister, though it is normal that before and after the election, our forces come out to intervene in case something happens—the election winner is always happy and the loser is not happy,” he said.
A number of luxury SUVs were let through the barricades and into the alleyway immediately behind Mr. Hun Sen’s house from both Norodom and Street 19.
One military police official standing guard near the prime minister’s compound said the closure was simply a temporary precaution due to the concurrent announcement of preliminary election results—which showed the CPP had won the poll but by a narrower amount than anyone had predicted.
